Sun Microsystems, Inc. announced that Japan has chosen Sun to create an open, Web 2.0 architecture that will better leverage IT to deliver better government services to citizens. Japan, Singapore and Norway each join the growing list of governments that have already turned to Sun for efficient, scalable architectures that accurately manage global information flow and help maximize productivity.

Governments around the globe are looking to use IT to give their constituents a single point of access to available governmental services. Open Source technologies, such as the OpenSolaris operating system (OS), help foster a strong ecosystem of developers and independent software vendors (ISVs) that can be leveraged by governments as it looks to scale the initiative and provide more services to the country.

The government of Japan has been keenly exploring ways to provide electronic government services for many years, which led to the formulation of the "New IT Reform Strategy" in January 2006. The strategy has a goal of making 50 percent of all applications and filings for government agencies to be submitted online by 2010, which can only be attained if the service infrastructures are up to speed with taxpayers' expectations. Sun was chosen to create an integrated and inherently secure network, called Trusted Network, which will help enable a true one-stop service infrastructure. The complete Sun solution is comprised of OpenSolaris OS, Sun Java System Identity Manager software, Sun Java Composite Application Platform Suite and Sun Ray thin clients.

"Until recently, many government agencies opted not to gamble with any level of open access," said Crawford Beveridge, EVP and Chairman EMEA, APAC and the Americas, Sun Microsystems, Inc. "But in a changing world, providing personalized, citizen-centric and business-centric benefits and services that maximize the value of taxpayers' money is a shining example of the vision for Web 2.0. Sun's extensive expertise, coupled with secure IT systems and software, are helping pave the way for governments to use technology to improve prosperity and welfare for its citizens, allow for a more open and transparent communication between the government and its citizens and can reduce administrative costs of providing services."

Sun has achieved great momentum in the eGovernment space, with wins such as:

Norway

MyGov is part of the Norwegian government's "eNorway 2009" initiative designed to provide the country's 4.5 million citizens with a single Web-based access point for all government services. Leveraging a reliable and robust operating platform comprised of the Sun Java Enterprise System, Sun identity management solutions, x64 (x86 64-bit) and UltraSPARC T1 processor-based Sun Fire servers running the Solaris 10 Operating System (OS), MyGov helps citizens to have secure, browser-based public access to government services through a secure and personalized portal interface. Just recently, MyGov's self-service citizen portal, called Mypage, was named a winner at the European eGovernment Awards for "participation and transparency empowering citizens and business to influence open government, policy-making and the way public administrations operate and deliver services." Mypage offers more than 300 services for citizens, and has more than 200,000 registered users it its first four months of operation. The complete end-to-end Sun solution helps the government to drive innovation and provide an online platform where the citizens can handle their healthcare, order tax cards, register and manage motor vehicles, manage their student loans, communicate with public officials and conduct other civic initiatives and services.

Singapore

Sun ally Ecquaria was awarded the contract to develop the NSS (New Singapore Shares) Web site and eServices to help eligible citizens to check their NSS allotment in real-time and instruct the Central Provident Fund Board (CPFB) to exchange their NSS for cash. Ecquaria leveraged Public eServices Infrastructure (PSi), a ready government services delivery infrastructure jointly developed by the government and a consortium consisting of Sun, Ecquaria and other vendors. The NSS website and eServices were successfully developed and launched in just three short weeks. The solution is comprised on Java-based technologies, Sun UltraSPARC-based servers and the Solaris 10 Operating System.

More information on these customers and other eGovernment wins can be found at: http://www.sun.com/customers/index.xml?i=8e6c0b69-a27f-11d6-89d5-8f822d49731f